A/N: This is a "Charmed" fic I started sometime last year, or the year before. Not sure if it's any good. If I get reviews, I may go ahead and finish it. Let me know if y'all like it! It's been so long since I wrote it, that I'm not even sure when it takes place…

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from "Charmed", sadly.

Too Many Spirits

Chapter 1

Piper leaned against the bathroom door frame with a faint smile on her lips as she studied Paige's reflection in the mirror across from her, which, if you ignored distance, made it seem as though the sisters stood next to each other. Hidden from the mirror by the current redhead's back, Wyatt was held tightly in his mother's hands as he played with a few strands of her hair. Meanwhile, his bright blue eyes - the same shade as his father's - studied his mother beneath long, golden eyelashes.

"So what's this guy's name again? Dick?" The question was asked just a tad bit scathingly.

"No, it's Vick, like I've told you three times now." Paige secured the clip in her hair, just over her left ear, conveniently forgetting the bright yellow flower belonged to Phoebe. "And must you ask it that way? Or look at me like that while you're holding Wyatt? It's like you're saying, 'Oh, Paige, there you go being irresponsible again.'"

"Hey, don't blame me just because the last two dates you went on happened to concur with family emergencies. All I'm doing is staying here at home, taking care of my son, cooking, cleaning, and killing the occasional demon that wants to kill all Halliwells. Nothing too major. Certainly nothing for you to cancel a date over." Piper gave her youngest sister the familiar bright 100-watt smile Paige had come to both love and hate.

"Very funny. But I do notice that those emergencies don't really occur too often lately when you have a mommy meeting. Or when Phoebe has a deadline. Only when I have dates." She turned to face the brunette, one hand reaching out to brush a finger lightly down her nephew's cheek. "And you know that I do drop everything and orb home when you need me. So that's not really fair. Is it really too much to ask for me to have one nice, normal night? Maybe once a week?"

"Ha. Now that you've said that, whatever happens tonight is totally your fault. You realize that, right?" The sisters shared a look, followed by a smile at one another. "But anyway, what does this guy do?"

"He's a real estate agent." She paused, anticipating Piper's snort of derisment even as it came. "Which isn't glamorous-"

"Isn't glamorous? Please. Even I would call that boring."

Paige continued as if Piper hadn't even spoken, "- I know, but it's normal. Nice. He has a steady income, he's cute, he likes me, and he asked me out for tonight." She gave a half shrug, turning back to the mirror to apply a shiny pink lip gloss in a light coat over her darker pink lipstick. "None of which I find anything wrong with." The doorbell rang, signifying the end of the conversation and she slipped the lip gloss into her tiny purse for the evening, and then turned back to her family. She leaned over and gave Wyatt and Piper both a kiss on the cheek. "Don't wait up!" Moving past them the redhead made her way towards the stairs.

Piper smiled again and shook her head, then looked at Wyatt. "Five bucks says she'll be home by midnight." Her son only smiled and babbled something unintelligible. His mother's smile became a grin and she headed towards the stairs herself as she heard Paige leave, to start on the dinner for the two of them-and Phoebe, when she got home.

***

Ice in glasses clinked, knives scraped along plates, and laughter was heard throughout the bar. Yes, a bar. Paige sat nursing a bottle of sparkling water, while watching her date across the room talking to a college friend he'd just happened to run into. Definitely not what I was expecting when he said 'nice, semi-fancy dinner'. Glancing around the room again, she felt a little pool of disgust in her stomach as she noticed a few bikers at a pool table studying her with leering smiles. "Okay, that's it. I don't care what Piper says. I gotta get out of here."

Scooping up the light beaded jacket she'd pulled on for the evening, she shot another glance towards her date, and then shook her head. Probably won't even notice I'm gone. At least she didn't need to shell out money for a cab. Orbing home couldn't possibly be considered personal gain, since it was strictly using her Whitelighter side, right? She still sometimes had questions about that.

Deciding it was safer to use the restroom for orbing rather than risk exposure outside, the redhead held tightly to the purse that matched her jacket, and headed for a door that had a neon-lit shaped silhouette of a woman over top of it. Pausing at the door to glance up at the sign, she snorted quietly. "Classy." A roll of her eyes was given, followed by her stepping through the door and inside. A quick glance was cast around, showing her she was alone, and she readied herself for orbing, when a sound caught her ears.

Someone was definitely crying. Paige debated with herself for a moment, but knew she couldn't just walk away. It simply wasn't in her nature. She moved towards the stall where the crying seemed to come from, and called out quietly. "Hello?" A slight nudge to the door proved it was unlocked, and she pushed it open slowly. "Are you….okay…?" Her question trailed off as she was faced with an empty stall. The crying ceased for a moment, as she studied the dubiously white porcelain in confusion.

"Must be hearing things…" Letting go of the door, she again started to ready herself to orb away, when she heard the sounds again. Spinning around, she this time managed to see the source. Standing only a few feet from her was a Hispanic woman, dressed in a short, black leather skirt, a bright red camisole, and killer black thigh-high boots. "Whoa, okay. Weird echoes in here, huh? Are you alright?" The half-whitelighter, half-witch stepped forward and reached out a hand to lightly touch the woman's shoulder, only to have her hand pass right through her. The image wavered, then disappeared.

"Great, another spirit. Just to top off my evening, right?"

***

Phoebe sighed out of satisfaction, hit CTRL and the 'S' key on her keyboard, then leaned back in her desk chair with a smile. Her column for next week was finally finished. All she needed to do now was send it to the editing department and she'd be all set. Sitting up again, she opened up a new email, typed out a brief note, added the attachment, and sent the column. Still smiling, she shut the computer down and shook her head. "Thank the gods for whoever created the computer." She slipped the backup disc into her back pocket, then scooped up the thigh-length bright red jacket she'd bought just that morning. She loved having a job-because it meant she could buy fun, new things just like the jacket.

As she stepped out of her office and into the main newsroom, the sheer silence struck her like a hammer. Usually, there were a lot of people still there, even at nine o'clock at night. "No way Elise would have sent them all home." Although she half didn't believe herself-after all, after last week's mini-fight with her editor, Elise could very well have neglected to tell Phoebe about a holiday, or something like that.

The brunette shook her head, then followed up the gesture by absently running a hand through her just-past shoulder length strands. She was secretly glad she had decided to grow her hair back out-the short look had made her appear too much like a pixie that was a good friend of Paige's.

As she headed towards the exit, she stopped as she heard a strange sound. Was someone crying? Turning, she scanned the empty newsroom again, then headed towards what seemed to be the source. Lightly pushing open her Editor-In-Chief's door, she peeked around the corner. "Elise? Is everything alright?" Her question was only meant with an empty room, however, though the sound was still heard. "This is starting to get just a little freaky…" Stepping further into the office, she paused as something moved. The 'something' then became someone as it moved again, revealing a young woman with dark curly hair, slanted eyes, and dark features. Definitely Hispanic. "Hey…are you okay?" The woman turned towards Phoebe, tears rolling down her cheeks. She shook her head, then abruptly disappeared, with the sound fading with her.

The middle Halliwell sister paused for a moment, glancing around to see if she would come back. When she didn't she pulled out her cell phone and again started to make her way out of the newsroom. "Piper? It's Phoebe. We've got a ghost problem…"